The feel of a Monster Hunter Lance is like nothing else in gaming. It’s staccato hops in and out of monster range make for a tremendously satisfying experience, and tip toeing on the very edge of the danger zone to jab away at it’s squishy zones can feel immensely rewarding, assuming your target doesn’t simply blast you out of existence for being so bold. Finesse then, is required to make the most of this particular weapon, and whilst this can take a lot of failed hunts to get right, the feeling of slowly taking apart your target through attrition is akin to nothing else. That said, when you’re just starting out it can be quite an intimidating experience, and the amount of models on offer can make it difficult to know if you’re swinging something worthwhile or not. We can’t profess to somehow make you a Lance expert, but what we can do is pick out some choice early game recommendations that might just help you on your way.
Pukei Spear
Those of you at all familiar with the Lance will no doubt understand this first recommendation, but it’s worth elucidating a little on exactly why. As opposed to something like the Greatsword, which prefers large single swipes to deal it’s damage, the Lance requires a great deal of thrusts, pokes and stabs to do the same. That being the case, it excels at taking advantage of the additional effects that some models possess, namely statuses. Using the Greatsword example again, do you perhaps think you have more of a chance to apply Sleep by hitting the monster once every 20 seconds, or 10 times every 20 seconds? Avid practitioners of mathematics might argue that, were the 1 hit scaled to apply exactly the amount of Sleep that the 10 do, then the chance is surely the same, and we would agree wholeheartedly were it not for one piece of information: It’s not scaled like that. The Lance, and indeed it’s quick hitting brethren, are capable of taking advantage of these additional effects, and as such the models have been adapted to suit. All of this amounts to both a weapon that is designed to apply hits quickly, and one that features a set of model types to suit.
To the models of choice then, and the first on our list is the Pukei Spear. It’s rather simple in it’s application; the main event is obviously the addition of a Poison, which as we’ve noted will be applied well due to the nature of the Lance, but it also comes with a reasonable amount of raw damage and a significant portion of green sharpness, ensuring you can continue to jab away as much as possible between whetstone uses. Some more eagle eyed readers may note that another Poison Lance is available in the early game, however we’d rather stick with the Pukei Spear thanks to its increased level of sharpness and raw damage – on balance, it’s just plain better.
Early Features
- Poison damage supplements the consistent Lance output, and helps to keep it up whilst repositioning against the more flighty targets.
- Good amount of raw damage, especially when taking the above into account.
- Plenty of green sharpness.
- In our experience it outperforms the Poison alternative thanks to the aforementioned sharpness.
Crafting Requirements
- Longhorn Spear
- Pukei-Pukei Quill x 4
- Pukei-Pukei Sac x 1
- Monster Bone L x 2
At first crafting the Pukei Spear might seem like a bit of a pain, after all getting your hands on the Quills does generally require that you break it’s wings, however in practice this isn’t altogether too difficult and you’ll often find they break as a result of your constant wailing on it. Likewise the Sac will require that you break the head of a Pukei-Pukei to have a reasonable chance of appearing in your rewards, but again this is it’s squishy zone so you’re likely to be aiming for it regardless. If anything the Monster Bone L is going to be hard to come by given it’s low chance to drop as a quest reward – if you’re struggling for this then head over to the Hub and complete some 2 – 3 star quests, where they seem more likely to drop.
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Sinister Spear
It’s truly excellent having the Blast status back on the menu, really it is. Not since the days of Brachydios’ release have we decided to farm quite so many models from one particular monster. Such is the case with Magnamalo in Rise, who just so happens to be the only source of Blast damage in the early game. If you’re anything like us then you’ve probably already identified the myriad of crafting options you’re going to complete using your hard earned Magnamalo parts, but it’s worth highlighting once again that weapons which dish out damage frequently are very well positioned to apply statuses and additional effects, because they do not allow to unseen threshold meter to drop much before another hit is applied. Most other types are rather more reserved with their eventual effects, like sending the target to sleep for example, or applying damage over time, but Blast instead chooses to deal a flat 300 damage in the form of an explosion, and who doesn’t love that?
Aside from the obvious Blast benefit then, the resultant purple poke stick has the usual assortment of benefits; high raw damage, good sharpness and a great upgrade path into high rank. These are all reason enough to take down the beast more than once, but it’s also worth highlighting the Rampage skills; we’re not huge fans of the ‘Magnamalo Soul’ choice, but you can choose to boost the Blast application through Blast Boost I, which is something we’d wholeheartedly suggest you do with this model, and if that’s not to your tasting then it even has access to Attack Boost II.
Early Features
- Blast works very well with quick and frequently damaging weapon types. Plus it seems to have been buffed a little in Rise!
- Excellent raw damage.
- Huge amount of green sharpness, ideal for the constant thrust of the Lance.
- Rampage skill Blast Boost I can further improve it’s Blast prowess.
Crafting Requirements
- Magnamalo Scute x 4
- Magnamalo Shell x 5
- Magnamalo Horn x 2
- Magnamalo Tail x 1
Ever get the feeling that the developers know how powerful a particular model is, and adjust it’s crafting difficulty to suit? Turns out this is one of the most loot demanding Magnamalo weapons available to craft, so don’t expect to get everything in less than 3 or so hunts. You’ll need to break it’s back for a reasonable chance at the Scute, though capturing can improve your chances, and the same goes for the Horn, though this requires a head break rather than the back. You’ll get plenty of Shells during your hunts, so this isn’t a real concern, and we’ll give you two guesses about locating the tail shall we? Hint: You need to carve a specific body part once it’s broken off…
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Goss Lance
One of our absolute favourite additions to the Monster roster in Rise has to be Goss Harag. Look closely enough and you can of course see the skeleton that it’s model is based upon, but if you thought it was going to behave at all like a plus size Arzuros then you’re sadly mistaken, and likely to have a rather large icicle puncturing your hunter in short order. Altogether it’ll take quite a bit longer to learn the ice beam touting Harag, making the aforementioned bear seem a bit cuddly by comparison, but we firmly recommend that you take the time to do so, if for nothing other than the satisfaction of taking it down. Well that and the excellent loot, obviously.
The Goss Lance then, can largely be summarised in the same way as all models resulting from this monster; very high raw damage, a tiny dash of ice damage and a chunk of minus affinity. This is the pattern for all Goss Harag weapons actually, and it tends to influence some more than others; the Dual Blades probably care less about one it’s smaller hits having an occasional negative hit for example, but the Greatsword isn’t too happy about having it’s huge charged attack slightly mitigated by such things. Generally speaking the Lance falls into the former camp and is less bothered about this minus affinity, but by the time you reach Goss you’re likely to have mitigating armour skills in tow anyway. Yes, you could argue that the Ice damage is a negative against resistant targets, but all that does is make that particular portion of it’s damage less effective, and you have a whopping 170 raw backing it up either way.
Early Features
- Massive raw damage, ideal for bridging the gap into High Rank.
- Small added Ice damage which can be useful against some targets.
- Sharpness could be better, but it’s passable.
- Rampage Skills mean you can mitigate some of it’s negative affinity through Affinity Boost I.
- Don’t be put off by that negative affinity – the difference it makes is minimal, and even a negative hit will do big damage thanks to the huge raw value this lance possesses.
Crafting Requirements
- (Forge) Goss Harag Fur x 2
- (Forge) Goss Harag Claw x 3
- (Forge) Goss Harag Brace x 2
- (Forge) Frost Sac x 2
- (Upgrade) Goss Harag Claw x 2
- (Upgrade) Goss Harag Brace x 1
- (Upgrade) Block of Ice x 2
- (Upgrade) Massive Bone x 1
You’ll either be delighted or frightened by this fact, but you’re going to need to take down the icy beast more than once to get all of these parts, certainly if you’re forging rather than upgrading that is. We’d obviously recommend going the upgrade route, but don’t be surprised if your inventory gets rather full of it’s parts anyway, thanks to some entertaining Event and Hub quests.
Anyway, the Claw is a requirement for both routes and it requires that you break the forelegs in order to have a good chance – such things often mean getting close to those ice claws, so be careful when doing so. The Brace and Fur are both quite easy to acquire, since you’re likely to see them show up as quest rewards frequently, but the Frost Sac might be a bit more elusive, requiring as it does for you to get lucky in quest rewards from either Barioth or Goss itself . Thankfully the Block of Ice is quite simple, since participating in Wyvern Riding will see plenty of these drop, and if you’re looking for a Massive Bone then we’d recommend taking on some Hub quests that require taking on either Goss or Barioth – they can drop in Low Rank village from Goss quests, however the chance is rather low.
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Categories: Monster Hunter Rise, Top 5